I want to
welcome the hundreds of you who recently signed up to get my posts via email in
response to the challenge. I am so glad you are taking steps to grow the level of intimacy in your marriage
over the next few weeks. I think you’ll be glad you did.

To my
existing readers and subscribers, I would encourage you to join in as much of
the Intimacy Challenge as you can. You won’t regret it.

Each day, for
the next 13 days, I am going to be blogging specific ideas on how to increase
intimacy in your relationship. Each day there will be separate posts for
husbands and wives. (Note: email subscribers will get both emails, since I have
no way to determine the gender of my subscribers, so just open the one for you!)

As I said in
my other posts leading up to the challenge, you will be focusing exclusively on
meeting the intimacy needs of your
spouse. Make the commitment right now in your mind to lay aside your own
needs and expectations for these two weeks. If you can do that for this short period
of time, you will be pleasantly surprised at the results. In learning to love
your spouse more selflessly and generously, you will begin to see a shift in
the atmosphere of your marriage.

Think
- Something to consider that
may challenge the way you think about your marriage. How you think about
your marriage is what keeps you on the Path of Intimacy for the long haul.

Do
- Specific actions you can take
that day to immediately enhance intimacy in a way your spouse most
desires. Some of these actions might push your boundaries a little. You
can do them exactly as I give them to you or modify to suit your spouse’s
unique preferences, but I encourage you to challenge the status quo and be
bold in your actions.

Ask –
Because intimacy is really about being “naked and unashamed” in the entirety of your marriage, I will
give you adaily question
to ask your spouse. Some of these questions might make you a bit
uncomfortable, but as with the actions, be willing to stretch yourself for the sake of growing in intimacy.

Of course you
can choose to do all three initiatives or just one or two. It’s totally up to
you. The more of it you do, the more you
will get out of the challenge.

One suggestion
before we jump off with the challenge tomorrow morning: if you have to miss a
day or two or even a whole week, don’t
drop out! Just skim the posts you missed, or skip them altogether, and jump
back in wherever we are.

Lastly, I
know many of you are taking part by email subscription to my blog, but I would
really love it if you would stop by Journey to Surrender and leave a
comment on how the challenge is going for you. As always, respectful anonymous comments
are welcome. And of course you can always leave me feedback by email or on my Journey to
Surrender Facebook Page.